Laura Ingraham Actually Challenged Donald Trump For Making Fun of Adam Schiff's Name

Fox News host Lauran Ingraham offered a rare rebuke of President Donald Trump Monday when she called out Trump for poking fun at Rep. Adam Schiff's name over his comments about acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker.

Ingraham praised Trump for his overall toughness but described his quip on Schiff as an "unforced error."

"Being tough is great, we all love it," Ingraham said. "Tough, strong president. You don't have to ridicule Adam Schiff's name. It's an unforced error. There's no reason to do that."

Ingraham said Trump's words pulled attention away from the good he's doing for the economy and his other work in office.

"I'm not going to harp on it but it detracts from all the progress, economic progress. The stuff he's doing that is good stuff. There's no reason for it," Ingraham said.

Ingraham, like fellow Fox hosts Sean Hannity and Judge Jeanine Pirro, has often avoided criticism of the president and frequently attacks liberals over the bashing of the president.

Trump appeared to purposely misspell Schiff's name and call him "little" on Twitter when he took umbrage with the California congressman's criticism of Whitaker's appointment.

"So funny to see little Adam Schitt (D-CA) talking about the fact that Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker was not approved by the Senate, but not mentioning the fact that Bob Mueller (who is highly conflicted) was not approved by the Senate!" Trump tweeted Sunday in response to Schiff's appearance on ABC's This Week.

Schiff fired back at Trump with his own quip about the president's answers to special counsel Robert Mueller's questions.

"Wow, Mr. President, that's a good one. Was that like your answers to Mr. Mueller's questions, or did you write this one yourself?" Schiff tweeted.

Schiff and other Democrats have claimed Whitaker is unfit to serve as the nation's top law enforcement officer. They have also publicly stated Trump installed Whitaker to potentially end or hinder Mueller's investigation of the president's campaign and Russia's meddling in the 2016 election.

Democrats, like Schiff, have promised investigations of the president and his administration. Schiff is widely expected to be the next leader of the House Intelligence Committee after Democrats took back the House earlier this month following the midterm elections.

Trump has challenged the validity of Mueller's appointment by pointing out the former FBI director indeed was not approved by the Senate to serve as special counsel. However, by law, a special prosecutor like Mueller does not need such approval.

Whitaker was named Jeff Sessions replacement on November 7 and Trump said another candidate would be chosen at a later date. The president has stiff-armed any assertions over Whitaker's appointment by claiming he did not know Whitaker prior to forcing out Sessions, even though Trump was quoted in interviews stating he did indeed know Whitaker before appointing him.